China Proposes New Limit: No Passenger Car Should Do 0–100 km/h Faster Than 5 Seconds

Recently, China’s Ministry of Public Security released a draft of the updated National Safety Technical Requirements for Motor Vehicle Operation.

✅ One highlight is drawing major attention:

Passenger cars, upon every startup, must default to an acceleration mode no faster than 5 seconds from 0 to 100 km/h.

In other words, even if a vehicle is capable of a super-fast launch, its default setting must not exceed this acceleration threshold.

Why this matters:

• It reflects growing concerns around road safety as high-performance EVs and sports cars become more common.

• It signals a regulatory shift toward managing vehicle performance through software, not just hardware.

• It may reshape how automakers calibrate power delivery, especially in China – the world’s largest auto market.

Whether this becomes a final standard remains to be seen, but one thing is clear:

Software-defined vehicles mean performance itself is becoming a configurable, and now regulated parameter.

✍️ What do you think? Is it necessary for safety, or too restrictive for innovation?